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Sri Shyamala dandakam

Shyamala Dandakam

By Kalidasa

Kalidasa was one of the great Sanskrit poets. He wrote many great dramas like Shakunthalam and great epics like Kumara Sambhavam, Malavikagni mithram, the message poetry called Megha Sandesham etc. He is extremely famous for the use of appropriate similes and metaphors. Shyamala Dandakam is perhaps the greatest stotra written by him eulogizing the mother goddess Shyamala.

He has employed a poetic style called Dandakam in writing this prayer. Dandakam is that poetry where some of the lines have more than 26 syllables. It very much resembles prose. In this case, the entire Dandakam is a single sentence from start to the end. I have attempted to retain the same style

There is a folk story about how he came about to write this stotra. He was a foolish wood cutter who was made to act wise by the courtiers of a proud princess and thus convinced the princess marry him. The princess advised the wood cutter to enter in to a temple of Kali, and when she went for a walk, he locked himself in. When Kali came back, the wood cutter refused to allow her in, unless she made him wise. After she did, the first prayer of this wood cutter to Kali was Shyamala Dandakam.

I meditate on the daughter of Matanga,
Who plays the veena made of precious gems,
Who has become lazy due to her exuberance,
Who is blessed with very sweet words,
Who has a pretty mien which shines like the blue gem.

My salutations to that mother of universe,
Who has four hands,
Who wears the crescent as an ornament,
Who has very high breasts,
Who is of the colour of saffron,
And who holds flower, sugar cane, rope, arrow,
The goad and pundareeka in her hands.

Please bless me with a side long glance,
Oh daughter of sage Mathanga,
Who is my mother,
Who is as green as an emerald,
Who is exuberant,
Who blesses with all that is good,
And who lives in the forest of Kadambha[1]

Victory to the mother
Who is interested always in living in the forest of Kadamba trees which are similar to the wish giving Kalapaka trees and which is in the forest of Vilwa trees and which is situated in the gem island in the sea of nectar,
Who is the consort of Lord Shiva,
Who is the darling of all the world,

Who is with the charming sound of Veena mixed with appropriate beats, strengthened by the several bees,which rush towards the incenses of the marks of musk made on her pretty necks and the light emanating from the ornaments she wears in her ears made of very precious gems which put to shame the light of the universe of the moon,
Who has very pleasing musical voice,
Who shines with her very pretty features,

Who wears ear studs made of neelothphala flowers, whose shine is more than the light of her divine glances that emanate from her very pretty eyes which are red colured because of the divine alcoholic spirits drunk by her,
Who grants all wishes for all people of the world,
Who grants wealth and happiness

Who has nose rings, which makes one wonder whether it is made by the perspiration on her pretty forehead which has flown down from there and crystallized on her nose,
Who is the soul of all the world,
Who also assumes the form of Kali,

Who has a pretty face which easily showers smiles and which is made by prettier by the areca nut, Thamboola[4] and camphor in her mouth,
Who shows the symbol of jnana(wisdom)
Who has all types of wealth,
Who holds the lotus flower in her hand,
Who grants good blessings,

Who is having the soft sweet reddish smile which comes in waves from the very pretty set of teeth with its white shine similar to the garland made of white jasmine buds,
Who holds in her hand the pretty Veena,
Who is having reddish lips like the Bimba fruits,

Who is having the bright white conch like neck which has arisen from the ocean of milk at the time of high tide that too at the moonrise of the very pretty New youth,
Who is the personification of all arts,
Who is voluptuous,

Who is having the total blemish less luster created by her shining parts of the body which are decorated by several garlands and ornaments made by holy gems,
Who is the personification of all that is good,

Who has very pretty fingers which has the luster emanating from her nails and which are decorated by several rings studded with very precious jewels which is similar to the luster of the moon,
Who is worshipped lord by Indra, the king being of devas,
Who is surrounded the holy light of God emanating from the cit,
Who wears ear studs which have great luster,

Who is an ocean of beauty due to the three wave like lines which are formed in her middle due to a slight bent caused by her very attractive and heavy breasts which are happily pretty due to the luster of several chains that she wears which resemble a bevy of stars,
Who plays the sacred veena,
Who blesses her devotees with wealth,

Hemakumbhopamothunga vakshoja parava namre,Trilokavanamre,

Who has a look of humility due to the slight bent caused by her very heavy golden breasts,
Who is being worshipped by all the people of all the three worlds,

Who has very pretty thighs hidden by the holy cloth which is as red as the fully open flowers of palas tree and which defeats the prettiness of the trunk of Iravatha which has the pasting of a saffron coat,
Who has the ever flowing grace without hindrance emanating from her,
Who is a dark beauty,

Who has lustrous and the crescent like nails, which are bent and saluted by the wives of the eight lord of directions whose flowing hair is attracted by deer who think is as the luscious grass,
Who has a wholly lustrous mien,
Who is holy and pure,

Who has lotus like feet which shine in the light emanating from the crowns of the bent head of Indra, Vishnu, Shiva, Varuna, Brahma, Yama Niryathi, Vaisravana(God of wealth), Vayu, and Agni, which because they are painted red by the plant extracts shines like the reddish rising sun and which are the treasure house of youthful beauty,
Who holds lotus flower in her hands,
Who has the form of Parvathy,

Who sits in the seat made of the nine precious gems,
Who sits prettily,
Who sits on the jeweled lotus flower,
Who sits on the jeweled throne,
Who is being sought by the Conch and the lotus flower,
Who is very famous,

Who is being revered by the divine beauties like Manjula and Menaka,
Who is being served by Goddess Durga and Vama deva,
Who is with the eight divine mothers ,
Who is being worshipped by the yakshas, gandarwas and sidhas,
Who is the soul of the arrows of the God of love,
Who is being worshipped by Manmatha(God of love) and his wife Rathi devi,
Who is being worshipped in spring along with love,

Who grants great fame to her devotees,
Who from the beginning of the world is being meditated upon by sages,
Who is being worshipped by Lord Krishna a great expert in music,
Who becomes pleased by the power of Vedic chants,
Who is being worshipped by Lord Brahma with devotion,
Who is being worshipped by Vidhyadharas by soulful music made of pretty words,

Who is being praised by Kinaaras accompanied by soulful music of the Veena,
Who is being worshipped by the women of Yaksha, Gandharwa and Sidha clan,
Who is also being worshipped by all devas with a deep wish to grant them all their desires,

Who pets and plays with that parrot which is the personification of all knowledge, which keeps on singing pretty songs, which has the shining three lines on its neck in three different colours, which shines with two wings of green colour, which has shining beaks which are more pretty than the Kimsuka flowers,

Who when meditated upon as the one who holds the crystal chain in one hand, the knowledge filled book in another ,and the goad and rope in other hands, makes knowledge flow from the devotee’s mouth in the form of prose and poems,
Who when meditated upon as the one who has he reddish colour of dawn similar to the juice of red cotton, makes the devotee attractive to all males and females,
Who when meditated upon as the one who has a golden coloured body grants the devotee all sort of wealth and makes him live happily,Kinna sidhyedwapu shyamalam komalam Chandra choodanwitham thavakam dhyatha thasya kelivanam nandanam thasya bhadrasanam bhoothalam, thasya gheer devatha kimkari thasya chajnakari sree swayam,

Who when meditated upon as prettily greenish lustrous form wearing a crescent on her head, would grant all occult powers to the devotee and make him feel that the ocean is his pool for playing, great gardens are his kitchen gardens, the entire earth appears as his seat, Goddess Saraswathi appears as his servant and Goddess Lakshmi as the one obeys all his orders,

Who is the form of all sacred waters,
Who is the form of all holy chants to god,
Who is the form of all holy and sacred symbols
Who is the form of goddess of female principles,
Who is the form of all sacred platforms,
Who is the form of all philosophy,
Who is the form of all knowledge,
Who is the form of all yoga,
Who is the form of all musical sounds,
Who is the form of all sound,
Who is the form of all universes,
Who is the form of all divisions,
Who is the form of all souls,
Who is everything,
Who has all forms,
Who is the mother of the universe,
Please save me, pleases save me, Pleas save me,
Salutations to the holy goddess,
Salutations to the holy goddess,
Salutations to the holy goddess
Om.